Work restarts on much delayed community hall

Asad Khan, office manager of the Pakistan Association Dubai, surveys progress at the community centre building. Although a shortfall remains, the association is confident the hall will open early next year. Pawan Singh / The NationalShow less

DUBAI // Work to build a Pakistani community hall in the city has restarted after a four-year delay, and it is expected to be completed early next year.

The foundations for the multipurpose hall were laid in 2010, but funding ran out that year and work was halted with only the hall’s outer shell in place.

Since then the cost of the project had also risen from Dh6.5 million to Dh7.2m as the price of labour and materials increased.

“We have now secured the rest of the funding and work restarted on the project about three months ago,” said Faisel Ikram, general secretary of Pakistan Association Dubai (Pad).

“We are hopeful that it will be fully open to the public by March 2015.”

Last year a group of Pakistani businessmen and other members of the community pledged to make up the Dh4.5 million shortfall with services in kind.

“We had people come forward and pledged in-kind services like providing materials, such as aluminium and wood,” said Mr Ikram.

“The work began again about three months ago but there was a lot of administrative stuff we had to go through with Dubai Municipality to allow us to restart the construction, and that took a long time.

“At the moment, they are working on the exterior of the building but we will soon start fitting out the inside. Everyone with the association wants this project to be completed because it has been a long-running issue and it will make a huge difference to the community once it’s done.”

The association was still short of Dh2.5 million and has been appealing to the community and Pad members for the remaining amount.

“We are confident we will get the rest of the amount, if not in cash, then with services in kind and we will complete this project.”

A soft opening is planned for January with the hall opening to the public fully in March.

“The delay really made it difficult because the longer it took to raise the rest of the money the higher the cost became,” said Mr Ikram.

“We basically had to get new contractors and new consultants, which all cost more money and that doesn’t take into account the rise in the price of materials and labour since 2010.”

The news was welcomed by members of the Pakistani community in Dubai.

“We have been waiting for this to be done for so many years,” said Ali Khan, who lives in Deira.

“The community really needs this hall because it will become an affordable place for people to hold events and functions.

“At the moment people have to pay a lot of money to book other halls, but once the association centre is done we will have a much more affordable place to go.”

The hall will also provide a focal point for the community.

“Whenever there is an event the community needs to mark we end up having things spread out at different locations,” said Asif Ismail, from Bur Dubai.

“This will be great for things like celebrating Independence Day, or when there is a big event on.”

The multipurpose hall will have enough space for 650 people. Facilities will include a library with 16 computers and space for indoor games such as badminton.

The centre’s 1,688 square metre ground floor will include a kitchen, toilets and a 43-space car park. The first floor will have a gallery with capacity for almost 200 people.